Improvement in harvesters



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VALTER A. AVOD, OF HOOSIGK FALLS, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARVESTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 19,001, dated December 29, 1557.

To all whom 'it may concern.-

Beit known that I, WALTER A. Woon, of Hoosick Falls,in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Harvesting-Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the construction and operation of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specicatiomin which- Figurel represents a perspective view of the machine as arranged for cutting grass, the cutters and fingers being omitted, they not in anywise affecting that part of the machine which is claimed herein as new. Fig. 2 representsa section through the frame from front to rear, and showing that partof the machine next the main driving and supporting wheel in elevation.

Similar letters ot' reference, where they occur in the separate ligures, denote like parts ofthe machine in both of them.

Myinvention relates to the peculiar manner ot' arranging the caster-wheel and its block or stock in relation to the forks or hounds of the tongue, so that the caster-block and tongue,l though both hinged at the same point or byp inafter described.

A represents the block, or that part of the frame ofthe machine upon which the gearing is usually placed. To this blockA is attached the casting B, which effects several objectsviz., it contains the journal for the main supporting-wheel C, furnishes a lug, a, to which the arm or brace D is pivoted or hinged, and forms a tie, b, between the block A and the brace E, which extends from the rear of the said block A to the finger-bar F, to both of which it is attached.

To the front part of' the block A is attached the brace G, upon the top of which is the dri-vers seat H, and near the base of which is attached' the foot-rest I.

J represents the frame in rear of the fingerbar, K the outside supporting-wheel, L the outside divider or shoe, and M the trackclearer. These are distinctly shown in the drawings, but as they more immediately concern another application which I have made parts I do notdeem furtherdescription of them here necessaryl To the finger-bar F are connected two castings, N O, the latter of which also forms a tie, c, between said finger-bar and the brace E, as

does the former between said finger-bar and the block A. The forward ends of these two castings N O form lugs through which a rod or bolt, e, may pass.

P is a caster-block,the rear end of which receives the rod or bolte, and by which it'is hinged to the machine. To the front under side of this casterblock P is pivoted the castercrotch Q, which in turn carries the casterwheel R.

On the front upper side of the casterblock is attached a lever, S, which extends upto the driver-s seat H, so that the driver from his seat can conveniently grasp and use it. There is a loop or staple on this lever S, through which the brace D passes, so that a key or pin, d, passed through said lever and any one of the adjustingholes 1 2 3, Ste., will hold the cutters at any iixed position; or by placing the pin or key through any one of said holes and allowing the lever to rest on it the cutters can be raised at pleasure,and when released they will drop back only to the lowest xed position at which they may have been originally set.

The tongue T is forked at its rear end, just so as to pass clear of the caster-block P, the latter being intended to freely move up and down through the opening between the forks, or what might be termed the hounds of the tongue. These forks or hounds are furnished with tongue-ironsff, which terminate in deadeyes t' t', by which they are hinged to the rod or bolt e, and this rod or bolt e thus forms the joint on which the cutters, the caster-block, and the tongue all may move. Under some conditions the tongue and caster-block may move together, and when this is desired arod may be passed through the holes g g in the hounds and in the caster-block,and this makes them move together, andwhen this connection is made the caster-wheel may be removed and the Weight ot' the machine, which under the 'loose arrangement came on the caster-wheel,

will under the rigid connection come upon the horses necks.

The difficulty in having a caster-wheel attached to the tongue is this, that it does not for certainimprov'ements connected with these l act efficiently when the cutters areon or near vto the ground, the caster-crotch not swiveling freely, and in consequence the caster-Wheel cramps; but by giving the caster-wheel afree and independent movement no such contingency arises, as it is not iniiuenced bythe position of the cutters or of the tongue. Besides its greater efficiency, the hingngot' the tongue, frame, and caster-block at one point and by one rod greatly simplifies the arrangement. By thus making the caster plank or block P to neatly fill up the space between the hounds or fork of the tongue, they mutually support each other in turning the machine around, the

hounds coming against the caster-plank and r directing it in the path in which the machine is to be moved or turned.

Having thus fully described the nature and object of my invention), What I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s

So filling up the space between the forks or hounds ot the tongue with the caster-block to Which the caster-wheel R and lever S are attached as that by the introduction of a rod that passes through them, as at g, they may be made rigid and serve to support each other in turning the machine,in the manner and for the purpose substantially as herein set forth.

' WALTER A. WOOD.

Vitnesses:

Y H. C. THAYER, .Y GHAS. H. KING. 

